The Green Labyrinth

Crash

Theo:

"So.." Derek sits down at the table with me, sipping his coffee. 

"Huh?" I ask.

"Tell me everything." He leans over, grinning at me, Shea laughs out loud. 

"Well..." I tell him all about Collin. 

"I got back for maybe five minutes and I'm handed a plane ticket to Italy. I set off and land, and there he is. I knew it was him from the note he left me. We hangout in the town, in the little house we stayed in. The night we got back, we went to the pool. I got on him and we started making out. We told each other everything there. My past, Kyle, my parents, life. He told me things too. About Tommy, and his demons. It's like the weight lifted from me. He brought me upstairs, we hooked up..Derek it was so hot..and so real. I felt something for the first time in a long time. I wrote The Only Exception that night, while he slept. I watched him through the curtains, sitting outside. The ocean crashing below. I wrote about love. Derek, he told me loved me. We lived out this fantasy in another world, away from the real world. I felt more alive in that room with him than on any stage. He showed me his scars, I showed him mine. We sat and talked, and sang...It was like a book I couldn't put down, a story I never wanted to end. I'm so deeply in love with him, my heart is so full." I feel my cheeks turning a bright shade of rose. Tears welling up in my eyes. 

"He took me home. His home. I stood in his bedroom, I learned about his past, his life, his family. Everything. His dad and brother are amazing. His brother cares so much and is so worried about him all the time. It takes burden on his whole family. He showed me a safe place, in the middle of the golf course.." 

"SO YOU FUCKED IN A GOLF COURSE?" He yells, cutting me off. 

"Yeah..." I laugh. 

"So that song IS about you!" He sits back, smiling. 

"Anyway, that night was amazing. The thunder and rain pounding on us. We showered after, and slept in his bed. He hasn't been home in so long, actually home. His dad missed him a lot, I could see it in his eyes. He cares so much about him. They walk on eggshells around him, like the bomb inside him will explode at any minute. There's so much sadness. It's like when I actually go home..I haven't been. His hands leave permanent burns on me, I feel him all the time. I miss his voice, his smile, his laugh. I haven't had a nightmare since Italy. I've been able to sleep without the meds." 

I take a deep breath. I can feel my pulse rising, my heart beating fast talking about him. I've never felt like this, so free, so alive. He makes me feel alive. In every sense of the world. I feel the blood running through my veins, the breath through my lungs as I breathe in and out. Everything is finally so clear. 

Bzzzzz...

My  phone rings in my bag. I pull it out. It's Aidan. 

"Theo?" His voice is soft, rushed. 

"Aidan?" I say, standing up from the table. 

"Where are you?" He asks. 

"I'm home, I'm out with Derek and Shea. What's going on?" 

"It's Collin. He was in an accident." The words stop me in my tracks, my heart stops for a minute, I feel my breathing go short, the sweat drips down my face. My body goes limp. 

"Aidan, is he okay?" I hear my voice, almost inaudible. He says nothing. 

"AIDAN, IS HE FUCKING OKAY?" I yell into the phone, I feel my legs turning into jelly. 

"He's...he's in surgery, but I don't know.." his voice shaking. 

"Where are you? I'm coming." I say quickly.